Influence of Oxide Colorant on Chromaticity and Mechanical Properties of 3Y-TZP Ceramics

3Y-TZP ceramics were sintered at 1 500℃ for 2 h by adding different mass fractions of oxide colorant powders of Fe₂O₃, Pr₆O₁₁, Er₂O₃, CeO₂, respectively, to yttrium-stabilized tetragonal zirconia (3Y-TZP) powder. The influence of different oxide colorants on the coloring and mechanical properties of 3Y-TZP ceramics was discussed. The results show that after the addition of the oxide colorants, the main crystal phase of the ceramics was still tetragonal zirconia, and the crystal grains were closely packed with an average grain size of 200-500 nm. With the increase of the colorant addition, the flexural strength of all the ceramics decreased, but was maintained above 800 MPa, meeting the requirements of clinical dental restoration materials. The ceramics with the four oxide colorants had a uniform surface color and the color difference between the upper and down side was small. The color of the ceramics was yellow with addition of Fe₂O₃, Pr₆O₁₁ or CeO₂ and pink with addition of Er₂O₃. The influence of the addition of Fe₂O₃ and Er₂O₃ on the value of a^* of the ceramics was relatively great, and the addition of Pr₆O₁₁ and CeO₂ affected the value of b^* greatly.